Pierre Petelle
President & CEO,
CropLife Canada
Steven Webb
Executive Director & CEO,
Global Institute for Food Security
Erin Gowriluk
President,
Canada Grains Council
To ensure continued economic growth and global food security, the Canadian agriculture industry needs to raise its productivity and its profile.
Agriculture plays a critical and global food security. The agriculture and agri-food system together represent about 2.3 million jobs and contributes about 7.4 per cent of our gross domestic product (GDP). Crop production in Canada is a $100-billion industry with exports of wheat, canola, corn, soy, lentils, peas, beans, and specialty crops going to more than 150 countries around the world.
Despite the industry’s economic heft, Canada’s agricultural productivity growth has slowed since 2011. A recent report from Farm Credit Canada (FCC) identifies an opportunity to add $30 billion to Canada’s annual GDP by restoring growth in agricultural productivity to peak levels.
“Canada is one of only a handful of coun- tries around the world that has the arable land, water, innovative farmers and government stability to produce enough food to feed its own population as well as many others that simply cannot produce what they need. It’s critical that Canadian agriculture continues to find ways to sustainably increase production,” says Pierre Petelle, president and CEO of CropLife Canada, a national trade association representing the plant science industry.
Helping to address global food security
Increasing domestic food production represents not just an economic opportunity but a moral obligation to help feed the world’s growing population, which is expected to reach more than nine billion by 2050 according to the Food and Agriculture Organization. Meeting this challenge, however, requires that we grow 70 per cent more food on our existing land. “Canada is already a leader in sustainable agriculture but if we’re going to produce that much more food with the lowest environmental impacts, innovation will be critical,” says Steven Webb, Executive Director and CEO of the Global Institute for Food Security. “We can’t rely on yesterday’s tools and technologies to solve todays and tomorrow’s problems.”
Farmers will need access to the latest innovations in areas such as seed technology, crop protection products, and plant breeding. “There’s no point in buying, planting, and fertilizing seeds only to have an insect, disease, or hailstorm wipe out the entire crop,” says Petelle. “Whether it’s seed technology to produce crops that are more climate- and pest-resistant, pest control tools to keep crops healthy, or precision agriculture technologies that allow for higher yields with fewer inputs, we need a toolbox that allows farmers to address these pressures, and then we need to develop these innovations even further so they can continue to grow more with less.”
Needing to enable innovation
Advancing agricultural innovation in Canada requires substantial investment in research and development (R&D) — an area in which the plant science industry is very active. “Our members reinvest some of the highest percentages of sales of any sector back into R&D, looking for new, innovative solutions for farmers,” says Petelle.
Many innovations in the agriculture industry are happening in areas such as precision application equipment, accelerated breeding, artificial intelligence, machine learning, robotics, and big data. “These all require specialized knowledge and skill sets, so in addition to creating better tools for farmers, these innovations are also helping to create new career opportunities,” says Petelle.
Getting these new innovative technologies into the hands of farmers will require the regulatory system to be nimble and efficient. “We need to ensure that our domestic regulatory framework is structured in a way that incentivizes the development and advancement of agricultural technology and innovation and that our policies are both science- and evidence-based,” says Erin Gowriluk, President of the Canada Grains Council, an organization representing the grain, oilseed, pulse, and special crop industries. “In its current state, Canada’s regulatory regime will not attract the level of investment and innovation needed to help the sector respond to our most pressing challenges. We need to ensure that farmers have access to the latest cutting-edge tools and technology, such as seed innovation and crop protection products that will make our farming operations more sustainable, productive and competitive. Those investments will increasingly be made elsewhere.”
We can’t rely on yesterday’s tools and technologies to solve todays and tomorrow’s problems.
Canadian agriculture is a solutions provider
Attracting more investment and people to agriculture requires raising the sector’s profile. “Agriculture is often overlooked as a sector for economic growth and investment, but for Canada to take its place as a true economic powerhouse, we need to have a mind shift, and I think that government, industry, and academic institutions can all play a role in positioning agriculture as a growth sector with exciting and rewarding jobs,” says Petelle.
A side benefit from supporting agricultural innovation is that it positions Canada as a leader in sustainability. “Increasing productivity will not only enable us to drive more value from our agricultural sector domestically, but also act as a road map for the rest of the world to increase food production while driving down the environmental footprint,” says Webb. Gowriluk agrees, adding, “When we consider our global sustainability targets, I think that one of the most meaningful contributions that Canada can make is to promote the adoption of the modern agriculture practices that our grain farmers are using.”
Learn more about how plant science innovations are supporting a more productive and sustainable Canadian agricultural sector by visiting croplife.ca.
